Citizens of heaven (Part 2)
Philippians 3:20a
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Preached on a Sunday Service (Jan. 28, 2001)
by Bro. Jurem Ramos
at the Soli Deo Gloria Church, Juna Subd., Matina, Davao City
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A clarification of last week's study: Citizens of Heaven
This study is a follow-up or a clarification to our last study, on Citizens of Heaven. I sensed that some might have misunderstood me in that preaching. This could have been brought about particularly by the illustration I gave:
An American may happen to be in the Philippines. He wishes a thousand things were different from what they are, but he does not trouble himself much about them. He says, "If I were a Filipino, I would see what I could do to alter this government, but being an American, let the Filipinos see to their own matters. I will be back to my own country by and by, and the sooner the better." What business have foreigners to plot against government, or to intermeddle with the politics of a country in which they have no citizenship?
Some might have come to the conclusion that because Christians are citizens of heaven, then they are no longer to sing the national anthem, to attend flag ceremonies, and no longer run for public office like councilor, mayor, etc.
This study will serve as a clarification of our previous study. I am again reminded of Paul's clarification in 1Co 5:9-10:
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.
I am sure the question still hangs in the minds of some. What is the teaching of the Bible regarding how believers should relate to secular government? May Christians be involved in it? Are they allowed to join the protest rallies? As I said, the NT is clear as to the purpose of the church and even clearer as to the responsibilities of its leaders. The NT is clear in stating how the church should relate to the government, whatever form it may be (Tit 3:1-2; Ro 13:1; 1Pe 2:13-14,17). How that teaching is to be applied is now being debated by Christians.
There are different positions today taken by believers regarding how believers are to relate to society.
A. On the one hand there are Evangelicals who say Christians should go to the streets and join rallies to oust wicked leaders. They criticize those who claim to be citizens of heaven but did not join in the Edsa People Power, Part 2. They say that to love God is to love the country, which, according to them includes going to the streets to oust a wicked president.
On that note by the way... Last night I happened to hear the commentaries of two men on the radio. They were discussing the legality of Chief Justice Davide's action in the inauguration of GMA and the legality of the Edsa Revolution. I really did not know the context and their position, if they were anti or pro-Erap. The other said that Chief Justice Davide's induction of GMA is justified on the basis of the maxim, "the voice of the people is the supreme law of the land." This is the basis of Chief Justice Davide for his action. But the other, who I guess was a lawyer said, Yes, that is correct, but it must be made clear that the right expression of that maxim is in the polling stations during the elections, and not in Edsa revolution. And then he categorically said that what happened in Edsa was illegal. Then the other commentator said it must be extra legal. The lawyer responded, call it extra legal or illegal, but there is no provision in our constitution that if you no longer want any person to be president, you may oust him by means of a protest rally. This is not allowed even in our democracy. What is constitutional is the impeachment trial.
I am not a lawyer and I am in no position to comment on that. That lawyer will have to argue his case with the Chief Justice himself. I am just relating to you what I heard. But having heard that I just thought to myself, if that were true, the more Christians should not have been involved in the protest rallies. I am not pro or anti Erap. All I am saying is that if that were true, believers should be law-abiding citizens.
B. Others, on the other hand, think that believers should be totally indifferent to what is happening in the world because they are citizens of heaven. They shouldn't sing the national anthem. It is sinful to give allegiance to the flag of the Philippines. They shouldn't vote. Individual believers shouldn't be involved in politics. All they should do is to evangelize.
C. I believe the balanced view is this: Every believer has a responsibility to both the church and the state. However, the priority and the concern of the church as an institution and its ministers, are not political. (Ex. Gen. Angelo Reyes of the military and Gen. Panfilo Lacson of PNP). The bible does not endorse political or social activism for the church. I will say more about this later in our study.
The more fundamental Issue
But I think the first and more fundamental issue which Christians should be thinking about during these times relate to our being rather than to our doing. What I mean is this: before asking the question, "What should I do as a Christian?" we should first ask "Who am I as a Christian?" Until that issue is clear to the believer, he cannot live correctly here on earth.
This is the reason why I shared our citizenship in heaven, as the first of the messages in our series on how Christians are to live under a wicked society, or even a wicked government, if you please. I would like to emphasize that. Even before considering the issue of how Christians should relate to a wicked government or how believers are to live in a pagan society-we must first consider the issue of who we are in Christ. This is Paul's approach. Before telling the believers what they are to do, he first reminds them what they are to be in Christ.
One Christian author, Watchman Nee, wrote a small commentary on Ephesians. The title is, "Sit, Walk and Stand." The title shows us the right sequence so that we live rightly on earth. First is SIT. Believers must first realize Eph 2:6-And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.) Next is the WALK, the behavior in the light of our position in Christ. (Eph 4:1 [NASB]-I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called). And then we stand (Eph 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil).
That is how believers are to live. Recognize your position first before you can walk in a manner pleasing to God and stand firm in your faith.
I am bothered when believers say, "Oh yes we are citizens of heaven, but we should not forget that we are also citizens of earth." That statement per se is true. But it can be wrongly applied. And I am afraid, the application is done in such a way as to make our heavenly citizenship insignificant or irrelevant. In practice, Christians seem to portray that our citizenship is still in the future. It seems like by their actions they are saying, "We will be citizens of heaven. That will happen when we die. When we get to heaven, that's when we will be citizens of heaven, but while we're still on earth, we are citizens of earth, and so, act like one, now." No. The teaching of the Bible is that we are citizens of heaven, NOW! Our primary citizenship is not on earth but in heaven.
Believers should not be talking about patriotism and love and devotion for one's country until it is clear to them what love and devotion for Christ and His kingdom means. The first commandment is "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength" before you love others as you love yourself.
We are first Christians before we are patriots or politicians. We are first Christians before we are employers or employees, teachers or students, kings, or slaves. Paul said in Gal 2:20‑I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me..."
And I believe that ministers of the gospel especially, should keep this priority in its proper place. Some preachers today are acting more like political activists than ministers of the word.
Richard Baxter: It is the first and great work of ministers of Christ to acquaint men with that God who made them, and is their happiness: to open to them the treasures of His goodness and to tell them of the glory that is in His presence, which all His chosen people shall enjoy... Having showed them the right end, our next work is to acquaint them with the right means of attaining it.
That is the reason why I shared first, our citizenship in heaven. Before talking about our involvement, do we know who we are in Christ? Is this just a notional belief? Do we really believe this in our hearts? Do we really live as though we were pilgrims here on earth? Can we really say that we are investing our capital in heaven? Can we say heaven is where our treasure really is? Can we honestly say with Paul, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us? Can we say with Abraham, "I am like a stranger in a foreign country? I am looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. I am longing for a better country-a heavenly one"?
Now we turn to the question,
Can citizens of heaven be in any way involved in politics, and still be pleasing to God?
The balanced view
Allow me to read from John MacArthur, in his book, Why Government Can't Save You" An Alternative to Political Activism.
My point is not that Christians should remain totally uninvolved in politics or civic activities and causes. They ought to express their political beliefs in the voting booth. And it is all right occasionally to support legitimate measures designed to correct a glaring social or political wrong. Complete non-involvement would be contrary to what God's Word says about doing good in society: "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of the faith." (Gal 6:10). It would also display a lack of gratitude for whatever amount of religious freedom the government allows us to enjoy. Furthermore, such pious apathy toward government and politics would reveal a lack of appreciation for the many appropriate legal remedies believers in democracies have for maintaining or improving the civil order. A certain amount of healthy and balanced concern with current trends in government and the community is acceptable as long as we realize that such interest is not detrimental to our spiritual growth, our righteous testimony, or the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. Above all, the believer's political involvement should never displace the priority of preaching and teaching the gospel.
Believers are certainly not prohibited from being directly involved in government as civil servants, as some notable examples in the OT and NT illustrate. Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon are two excellent models of servants God used in top governmental positions to further His kingdom. The centurion's servant (Mt 8:5-13), Zacchaeus the tax collector (Lk 19:1-10), and Cornelius the centurion (Ac 10) all continued in public service even after they experienced the healing or saving power of Christ. (Acts 13:4-12 records that the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus also remained in office after he was converted).
The issue is one of priority. The greatest temporal good we can accomplish through political involvement cannot compare to what the Lord can accomplish through us in the eternal work of His kingdom. Just as God called ancient Israel (Exo 19:6), He has called the church to be a kingdom of priests, not a kingdom of political activists. The apostle Peter instructs us, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1Pe 2:9).
The example of the Lord Jesus
Jesus, as we would expect, perfectly maintained His Father's perspective on these matters, even though He lived in a society that was every bit as pagan and corrupt as today's culture. In many ways it was much worse than any of us in Western nations has ever faced. Cruel tyrants and dictators ruled throughout the region, the institution of slavery was firmly entrenched-everywhere was the antithesis of democracy. King Herod, the Idumean vassal of Rome who ruled Samaria and Judea, epitomized the godless kind of autocratic rule: "Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men [concerning the whereabouts of the baby Jesus], was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under" (Mt 2:16).
Furthermore, few of us have experienced the sort of economic and legal oppression that the Romans applied to the Jews of Jesus' day. Tax rates were exorbitant and additional government-sanctioned abuses by the tax collectors exacerbated the financial burden on the people. The Jews in Palestine were afforded almost no civil rights and were treated as an underpriviledged minority that could not make an appeal against legal injustices. As a result, some Jews were in constant outward rebellion against Rome.
Fanatical nationalists, knows as zealots, ignored their tax obligations and violently opposed the government. They believed that even recognizing a Gentile ruler was wrong (see Dt 17:15, "You may not set a foreigner over you, who is not our brother"). Many zealots became assassins, performing acts of terrorism and violence against both the Romans and other Jews whom they viewed as traitors.
It is also true that the Roman social system was built on slavery. The reality of serious abuses of slaves is part of the historical record. Yet neither Jesus nor any of the apostles attempted to abolish slavery. Instead, they told slaves to be obedient and used slavery as a metaphor for believers who were to submit to their Lord and Master.
Jesus' earthly ministry took place right in the midst of that difficult social and political atmosphere. Many of His followers, including the Twelve, to varying degrees expected Him to free them from Rome's oppressive rule. But our Lord did not come as a political deliverer or social reformer. He never issued a call for such changes, even by peaceful means. Unlike many late twentieth-century evangelicals, Jesus did not rally supporters to some grandiose attempt to "capture the culture" for biblical morality or greater political and religious freedoms. Instead, He did not hesitate to make such clear declarations as, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's (Mt 2:21), and, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do" (Mt 23:2-3). The pagan Roman officials and wicked Jewish leaders were not to be emulated but they were to be obeyed.
Christ, however, was not devoid of care and concern for the daily pain and hardships people endured in their personal lives. The Gospels record His great empathy and compassion for sinners. He applied those attitudes in a tangible, practical way by healing thousands of people of every kind of disease and affliction, often at great personal sacrifice to Himself.
Still, as beneficial and appreciated as His ministry to others' physical needs was, it was not Jesus' first priority. His divine calling was to speak to the hearts and souls of individual men and women. He proclaimed the good news of redemption that could reconcile them to the Father and grant them eternal life. That message far surpasses any agenda for political, social or economic reform that can preoccupy us. Christ did not come to promote some new social agenda or establish a new moral order. He did come to establish a new spiritual order, the body of believers from throughout the ages that constitutes His church. He did not come to earth to make the old creation moral through social and governmental reform but to make new creatures (His people) holy through the saving power of the gospel and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
And our Lord and Savior has commanded us to continue His ministry, with this supreme priorities in view, with the goal that we might advance His kingdom: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mt 28:18-20).
In the truest sense, the moral, social, and political state of the people is irrelevant to the advance of the gospel. Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world.
Francis Shaeffer, an evangelical leader who was deeply involved in confronting believers for their apathy towards society said this:
In the United States many churches display the American flag. The Christian flag is usually put on one side and the American flag on the other... So if by having the American flag in your church you are indicating to your young people that there are two equal loyalties or two intertwined loyalties, you had better find some way out of it... It must be taught that patriotic loyalty must not be identified with Christianity... Equating any other loyalty whether it is political, national, or ethnic with our loyalty to God is sin, and we better get our priorities right now.
Illustration
Jeremiah 38:1-6
From a worldly point of view, Jeremiah was very unpatriotic. In the NT you see a similar attitude of Paul. He loved his countrymen, but his real concern was for their salvation (Rom 10:1-5).
